Lou, I was 600$ in on trying to fix hot water issue. Had tech come out three times to try to fix it. If this helps anyone else, my issue was : Hot Water turn on, then 5 seconds later I would get code11. The only way to get hot water is to play with faucet 4 to 6 (with 3 seconds intervals) times before it stays hot. Followed each step in the video, When I took burner out I did see some dirt on ceramic (white) peace. Got it all cleaned out and put it back together. Opened it up and after 6 months of playing with faucet ……… hot water !!!! Thank you from my entire family :). You are my hero.
I just watched this video and it worked for me too! I did not do every step in the video because I scrolled down and read The Rheem technician's comment. Please read it yourself after watching the video (Parts 1 & 2.) In short, I only unscrewed the top of the three gas tubes and pushed them down to the left like the Rheem guy said. I also did not remove the side rails of the burner nor the ODS. I used compressed air to clean out burners and fine sandpaper to clean the flame rods. It worked! Hot water again! Thanks to Lou for this video and thanks to the Rheem guy who commented below.
Thanks Lou! I had over ten years of flawless service from my Paloma water heater until yesterday and the code 11. I spent today following your video and posted guide, and it is back to flawless again! Great job!
Outstanding!! Thank you for helping me clear the 11 code. Purchased house with this burner 4 years ago and have never serviced it. Started 11 code last year and through it intermittently. Last few months have gotten worse until I cleaned it. Now absolutely perfect. If I have to do it in another three years it will be worth it!
Thanks Lou, my folks have had a Richmond tankless for about 3 years and this is the 3rd time the error came up. They had called the plumber to fix this every time and were sick of it. They arranged to replace this with a traditional water heater next week. I said, let me try to fix it and had your video helping me out along the way. I used canned air since an air compressor was not available and used a q-tip to loosen alot of the dirt in the fins. Thanks for saving us from spending more money!
Thank you. Wished I saw the video the 1st time I cleaned mine and was having issues12 yrs ago. I have cleaned mine every few years but never cleaned the ceramic piece, so good I watch video. Code C2/11 should be listed as (clean Burners) gas pressure on the line is rarely the cause especially when it’s been installed for over 12 years.
Thank you Lou. I followed right along and got this job I dreaded done. I hate it when that code shows up. Then I went to part 2 to put it back together. Then I saw you have one on flushing the heater, I'll do that next. Thank you very much and God bless you!
Thank you so much for this video! 9 months after professionally getting my tankless installed, I started getting the c211 error. I followed your instructions and fixed the problem! You saved me $$$!
Excellent work! Very helpful video. Solved the problem with our unit. A little complicated mechanical surgery, not for just any homeowner, but definitely do-able for the mechanically inclined. I might not have attempted it without seeing the video. Thanks.
this fixed it! C7 13 was the code I was getting. I cleaned the brass gas port to the ODS on the right fuel rail, someone else said the natural gas contaminants which cause the soot on the burners clogs this orifice, starving the ODS flame. Now I'm gonna take a long hot shower without shutting off the water every 2 minutes to keep the sensor from tripping! Thanks Lou.
I kept getting a random code 11 from my tankless water heater in a house I just bought... called Rheem and they went over how the system was installed and they said the flame rod and burners needed cleaning. They emailed me the instructions as they did you. The instructions looked harder than it was, thanks for the video so much it gave me the confidence to do this and saved lots of money. Great video and reference tool. Now it works consistently.. the rods were white on the end and did get some debris from the burners.
Great video! I followed it on my Paloma and it fixed my C2 11 issue. Even though we have "different" brands the insides were about identical. Thank you so much Lo
I cleaned out my burner following this procedure and restored the water heater function and cured my code 11 without removing my 3 foot long flex supply line. A little tip is to clean out burner tubes with a pipe cleaner. I had a small cob web in one of mine
I don’t know. They were there when I bought it. My guess is it was a quality control tester mark. Like maybe they pressure test gas/water lines for leaks and write the results on the panel.
Great video. I did find out today My new Rheem install was throwing error code 13.. Rheem said it was venting or flame rods and other such nonsense. I found a chart for gas delivery length and pipe size. Using 3/4 pipe over a 45 foot run( with elbows and tees counting a add 5 foot each) that GAS starvation was the problem. ANYONE can have error code 13 throw if using marginal gas delivery as when the stove and furnace are on when water heater is turned on. Error code 11 clean flame rods
Lou, thanks for this video. This is not rocket science but made it much easier by knowing what to look for. I just cleaned my Paloma heater, which looks almost identical. After 10 years of use it started giving me code 11 almost every time I used hot water. I have flex pipe, which was my initial assumption that's the problem, but I figured it worked fine for 10 years, so why now flex would not be sufficient enough. So I decided to go easier route by cleaning it first. When I opened up the burner cover I immediately saw what the issue was. I literally had the burners covered with what looked like sand, just flat grains, that were choking or preventing ignition. Do you know if the water pipes just above the burner were originally covered with some kind of ceramic layer that crumbled and fell on the burners or is this some residue from burned gas? Just curious if anyone seen something like that before. After cleaning the heater works like a champ again. Looks like I need to perform this cleaning as a routine every several years.
+Henry Limowski - I am not familiar with your water heater, but mine has plain copper water tubes and no ceramic. I think the main particles that could come from gas, would be carbon. However, after 10 years of combustion, you have pulled in a lot of airborne particles, some of which are non-combustible, and that may be the pile you are seeing. I am glad it was an easy fix!
Henry Limowski: Geez, nor EVERYTHING has to be rocket science. Some things are simple especially when you have a video or Pictorial guide to reference!
Very detailed video. I have different model(rheem ecosense) but pretty much except few screws changes here and there. Thank you so much for your time and the service. Be blessed by the divine.
Thanks for this step by step video - much easier to follow vs. the instructions Rheem sent me over email. I found I had to watch it backwards (sort of) to make sure I reassembled everything correctly. At the end, I had trouble getting the fuel rods back into their spots, they would not go in easily. I put a little bit of lube on them, and they slid right in. I hope that does not corrode the o-ring seals. I probably should have used mineral oil or something that I am sure did not contain any corrosive ingredients. Hindsight.
Good work! This job has a ton of steps. I think you will be fine with the lube. Gas is only in those tubes when its heating. If you ever had a tiny leak, it would get pulled in by the air vent fan and burned with the rest.
Flex pipe or corrugated stainless steel tubing is perfectly fine to use as long as it is sized and installed correctly. Saying that using flex line is the wrong kind of gas line to use is silly. You just have to ensure whatever type of supply line you use has the gas delivery capacity to properly run the heater. If you really have to go through this process every 8 months, I would suspect your piping to the unit is inadequate or you are pulling particulates (dirty air) into the burner. The installation manual for my unit came with a detailed gas line sizing chart (in my case, it was clear that I needed to run larger gas lines to be able to supply enough natural gas to the unit, along with all other gas appliances that were on the same run). In most cases, when converting to a tankless water heater from a standard tank heater, you will need to run a dedicated gas line to the unit from your meter, or you may need to increase your gas line all together, otherwise you will be starving the unit of gas when it attempts to fire up (resulting in the dreaded 11 code). If you are using 3/4" black pipe for natural gas, the run must be no more than 30' from your meter and it would need to be a dedicated line (i.e.- you wouldn't be able to run a furnace, a stove or a gas dryer on the same run).
My 14 year-old gas water heater just sprung a leak in my basement. I'm scrambling to get this replaced before the 4th of July weekend, but I was kind of thinking about going tankless. I love the idea and the energy savings, but that cleaning procedure seems like a MAJOR pain - especially if it must be done once a year +/-. With my luck, I would lose those tiny screws and O-rings, etc... and really be screwed (no hot water)... I think I'm just gonna go "old school" with a bigass 75 Gallon tank. I can get a tankless Jacuzzi brand for only $699 from Lowes, but a professional installation will be MUCH more $$. I can probably do it myself, but that will take a lot of time and I will have to figure out how to get the tank upstairs and how to dispose of it. Plus, I am not aware of all the the plumbing/fire/ electrical codes, and a permit and inspection is required. I'm pretty handy around the house, but I think this is beyond my capability. If I were building a NEW house and wasn't scrambling to replace a leaky tank, I would most likely go tankless. Great video, though...Thanks!
I have this exact problem with mine. If I buy new rods it will last for about 18 months before I have to replace them again. If I clean the flame rods I only get about 2 months of more use out of them. Can someone please tell me why I keep having this problem
Yes, my next video answers that. You are choking your water heater. No Flex Gas Pipe for Tankless Water Heaters ua-cam.com/video/zW109bgIRg4/v-deo.html
I just flush with vinegar and clean the burner of my Rheem and it is working again, I was afraid the control board was bad and because my remote control is not working and only sent me the 76 code (means bad comunication I can't now what was happening!!), now I have hot water again, THANK YOU LOU for making it easier and saving a lot of us of dealing with Rheem directly
I hate my Rheem tankless heater. Every year I get an error code E8 13 and have to take it apart and clean it it is a nuisance. After 9 yrs cleaning does not solve the issue and I am looking for something new, NOT Rheem.
+John Reist - I am sorry you have had such a hard time with your unit. I don't understand why. Mine runs great and just me no trouble. Do you have a really hard water? That might cause it to scale up quickly
Error Code 13 Solution Kudos to the Rheem technician (800-432-8373) for pointing me in the right direction. After 1 year of flawless operation we began experiencing sporadic "13" error codes causing us to reset 1-2 times per day. Once I got past the original tech suggesting a multitude of lame reasons, I was transferred to a real tech who suggested examining the FLAME RODS (thermocouples) for deposits and use either steel wool or fine grit sandpaper to remove them if present. Sure enough, one of them showed deposits and now we're back to operating reliably. These tankless units appear to be over-engineered and prone to sensor issues after prolonged use which leaves consumers with a bad feeling about their unreliability. I greatly suspect examining and cleaning the FLAME RODS would solve the majority of code "13" issues. I've had to clean them with my furnace every few years and found them more accessible and a simple fix. Accessing them inside of the tankless unit is not as simple, but proved just as effective. :)
Just wanted to say 12 years later this video still helping people out. Thanks so much for posting!
Lou, I was 600$ in on trying to fix hot water issue. Had tech come out three times to try to fix it. If this helps anyone else, my issue was :
Hot Water turn on, then 5 seconds later I would get code11. The only way to get hot water is to play with faucet 4 to 6 (with 3 seconds intervals) times before it stays hot. Followed each step in the video, When I took burner out I did see some dirt on ceramic (white) peace. Got it all cleaned out and put it back together. Opened it up and after 6 months of playing with faucet ……… hot water !!!! Thank you from my entire family :). You are my hero.
I just watched this video and it worked for me too! I did not do every step in the video because I scrolled down and read The Rheem technician's comment. Please read it yourself after watching the video (Parts 1 & 2.) In short, I only unscrewed the top of the three gas tubes and pushed them down to the left like the Rheem guy said. I also did not remove the side rails of the burner nor the ODS. I used compressed air to clean out burners and fine sandpaper to clean the flame rods. It worked! Hot water again! Thanks to Lou for this video and thanks to the Rheem guy who commented below.
Thanks Lou! I had over ten years of flawless service from my Paloma water heater until yesterday and the code 11. I spent today following your video and posted guide, and it is back to flawless again! Great job!
Outstanding!! Thank you for helping me clear the 11 code. Purchased house with this burner 4 years ago and have never serviced it. Started 11 code last year and through it intermittently. Last few months have gotten worse until I cleaned it. Now absolutely perfect. If I have to do it in another three years it will be worth it!
Thanks Lou, my folks have had a Richmond tankless for about 3 years and this is the 3rd time the error came up. They had called the plumber to fix this every time and were sick of it. They arranged to replace this with a traditional water heater next week. I said, let me try to fix it and had your video helping me out along the way. I used canned air since an air compressor was not available and used a q-tip to loosen alot of the dirt in the fins. Thanks for saving us from spending more money!
Thank you. Wished I saw the video the 1st time I cleaned mine and was having issues12 yrs ago. I have cleaned mine every few years but never cleaned the ceramic piece, so good I watch video. Code C2/11 should be listed as (clean Burners) gas pressure on the line is rarely the cause especially when it’s been installed for over 12 years.
Thank you Lou. I followed right along and got this job I dreaded done. I hate it when that code shows up. Then I went to part 2 to put it back together. Then I saw you have one on flushing the heater, I'll do that next. Thank you very much and God bless you!
Thank you so much for this video! 9 months after professionally getting my tankless installed, I started getting the c211 error. I followed your instructions and fixed the problem! You saved me
$$$!
Excellent work! Very helpful video. Solved the problem with our unit. A little complicated mechanical surgery, not for just any homeowner, but definitely do-able for the mechanically inclined. I might not have attempted it without seeing the video. Thanks.
Took me about an hour to fix my tankless water heater! Lou you're the best!!
this fixed it! C7 13 was the code I was getting. I cleaned the brass gas port to the ODS on the right fuel rail, someone else said the natural gas contaminants which cause the soot on the burners clogs this orifice, starving the ODS flame. Now I'm gonna take a long hot shower without shutting off the water every 2 minutes to keep the sensor from tripping! Thanks Lou.
I kept getting a random code 11 from my tankless water heater in a house I just bought... called Rheem and they went over how the system was installed and they said the flame rod and burners needed cleaning. They emailed me the instructions as they did you. The instructions looked harder than it was, thanks for the video so much it gave me the confidence to do this and saved lots of money. Great video and reference tool. Now it works consistently.. the rods were white on the end and did get some debris from the burners.
Great video! I followed it on my Paloma and it fixed my C2 11 issue. Even though we have "different" brands the insides were about identical. Thank you so much Lo
Lou
my Paloma was totally different but the same basic concept, works perfectly now, your a stud.
Thanks
I cleaned out my burner following this procedure and restored the water heater function and cured my code 11 without removing my 3 foot long flex supply line. A little tip is to clean out burner tubes with a pipe cleaner. I had a small cob web in one of mine
What are the numbers written on the chamber cover?
I don’t know. They were there when I bought it. My guess is it was a quality control tester mark. Like maybe they pressure test gas/water lines for leaks and write the results on the panel.
I’ve used this video at least 3 times. Thank Lou!
How often does a deep cleaning like this, need to be performed?
Great video. I did find out today My new Rheem install was throwing error code 13.. Rheem said it was venting or flame rods and other such nonsense. I found a chart for gas delivery length and pipe size. Using 3/4 pipe over a 45 foot run( with elbows and tees counting a add 5 foot each) that GAS starvation was the problem. ANYONE can have error code 13 throw if using marginal gas delivery as when the stove and furnace are on when water heater is turned on. Error code 11 clean flame rods
Thanks for the video Lou, it was a great help.
Thanks for saving us a bunch of money Lou. We were able to do it ourselves watching the video.
Is "ODS' the oxygen depletion sensor?
Thank you! When doing an instructional video people should never abbreviate things like that.
Lou, thanks for this video. This is not rocket science but made it much easier by knowing what to look for. I just cleaned my Paloma heater, which looks almost identical. After 10 years of use it started giving me code 11 almost every time I used hot water. I have flex pipe, which was my initial assumption that's the problem, but I figured it worked fine for 10 years, so why now flex would not be sufficient enough. So I decided to go easier route by cleaning it first. When I opened up the burner cover I immediately saw what the issue was. I literally had the burners covered with what looked like sand, just flat grains, that were choking or preventing ignition. Do you know if the water pipes just above the burner were originally covered with some kind of ceramic layer that crumbled and fell on the burners or is this some residue from burned gas? Just curious if anyone seen something like that before. After cleaning the heater works like a champ again. Looks like I need to perform this cleaning as a routine every several years.
+Henry Limowski - I am not familiar with your water heater, but mine has plain copper water tubes and no ceramic. I think the main particles that could come from gas, would be carbon. However, after 10 years of combustion, you have pulled in a lot of airborne particles, some of which are non-combustible, and that may be the pile you are seeing. I am glad it was an easy fix!
Henry Limowski: Geez, nor EVERYTHING has to be rocket science. Some things are simple especially when you have a video or Pictorial guide to reference!
Very detailed video. I have different model(rheem ecosense) but pretty much except few screws changes here and there. Thank you so much for your time and the service. Be blessed by the divine.
Why are there two gas shutoff values? One one unit and one in line?
+Jason Snyder - Good eye. Yes, I always thought that was overkill, but the installation instructions called for it.
HowToLou
The only explanation I get is for "safety", but the safety is for nothing if I don't understand how and why to use either or both together.
Thanks for this step by step video - much easier to follow vs. the instructions Rheem sent me over email. I found I had to watch it backwards (sort of) to make sure I reassembled everything correctly. At the end, I had trouble getting the fuel rods back into their spots, they would not go in easily. I put a little bit of lube on them, and they slid right in. I hope that does not corrode the o-ring seals. I probably should have used mineral oil or something that I am sure did not contain any corrosive ingredients. Hindsight.
Good work! This job has a ton of steps. I think you will be fine with the lube. Gas is only in those tubes when its heating. If you ever had a tiny leak, it would get pulled in by the air vent fan and burned with the rest.
WOW,, excellent video, thanks for this. I have a paloma and im about to do this. looks the same i think.
Flex pipe or corrugated stainless steel tubing is perfectly fine to use as long as it is sized and installed correctly. Saying that using flex line is the wrong kind of gas line to use is silly. You just have to ensure whatever type of supply line you use has the gas delivery capacity to properly run the heater. If you really have to go through this process every 8 months, I would suspect your piping to the unit is inadequate or you are pulling particulates (dirty air) into the burner. The installation manual for my unit came with a detailed gas line sizing chart (in my case, it was clear that I needed to run larger gas lines to be able to supply enough natural gas to the unit, along with all other gas appliances that were on the same run). In most cases, when converting to a tankless water heater from a standard tank heater, you will need to run a dedicated gas line to the unit from your meter, or you may need to increase your gas line all together, otherwise you will be starving the unit of gas when it attempts to fire up (resulting in the dreaded 11 code). If you are using 3/4" black pipe for natural gas, the run must be no more than 30' from your meter and it would need to be a dedicated line (i.e.- you wouldn't be able to run a furnace, a stove or a gas dryer on the same run).
My 14 year-old gas water heater just sprung a leak in my basement. I'm scrambling to get this replaced before the 4th of July weekend, but I was kind of thinking about going tankless. I love the idea and the energy savings, but that cleaning procedure seems like a MAJOR pain - especially if it must be done once a year +/-. With my luck, I would lose those tiny screws and O-rings, etc... and really be screwed (no hot water)... I think I'm just gonna go "old school" with a bigass 75 Gallon tank. I can get a tankless Jacuzzi brand for only $699 from Lowes, but a professional installation will be MUCH more $$. I can probably do it myself, but that will take a lot of time and I will have to figure out how to get the tank upstairs and how to dispose of it. Plus, I am not aware of all the the plumbing/fire/ electrical codes, and a permit and inspection is required. I'm pretty handy around the house, but I think this is beyond my capability. If I were building a NEW house and wasn't scrambling to replace a leaky tank, I would most likely go tankless.
Great video, though...Thanks!
Thank you so much Lou!!
I have this exact problem with mine. If I buy new rods it will last for about 18 months before I have to replace them again. If I clean the flame rods I only get about 2 months of more use out of them. Can someone please tell me why I keep having this problem
Yes, my next video answers that. You are choking your water heater.
No Flex Gas Pipe for Tankless Water Heaters
ua-cam.com/video/zW109bgIRg4/v-deo.html
Good vid but if I had known how common this issue was and how many parts had to be taken off I would notnhave bought a tankless.
I just flush with vinegar and clean the burner of my Rheem and it is working again, I was afraid the control board was bad and because my remote control is not working and only sent me the 76 code (means bad comunication I can't now what was happening!!), now I have hot water again, THANK YOU LOU for making it easier and saving a lot of us of dealing with Rheem directly
I think I'm going to stick to the tanks
To replace the water heater Could be better 😂😂
Awesome
I hate my Rheem tankless heater. Every year I get an error code E8 13 and have to take it apart and clean it it is a nuisance. After 9 yrs cleaning does not solve the issue and I am looking for something new, NOT Rheem.
+John Reist - I am sorry you have had such a hard time with your unit. I don't understand why. Mine runs great and just me no trouble. Do you have a really hard water? That might cause it to scale up quickly
Error Code 13 Solution
Kudos to the Rheem technician (800-432-8373) for pointing me in the right direction. After 1 year of flawless operation we began experiencing sporadic "13" error codes causing us to reset 1-2 times per day.
Once I got past the original tech suggesting a multitude of lame reasons, I was transferred to a real tech who suggested examining the FLAME RODS (thermocouples) for deposits and use either steel wool or fine grit sandpaper to remove them if present. Sure enough, one of them showed deposits and now we're back to operating reliably.
These tankless units appear to be over-engineered and prone to sensor issues after prolonged use which leaves consumers with a bad feeling about their unreliability. I greatly suspect examining and cleaning the FLAME RODS would solve the majority of code "13" issues. I've had to clean them with my furnace every few years and found them more accessible and a simple fix. Accessing them inside of the tankless unit is not as simple, but proved just as effective. :)
thanks
tg
Shit